Secondary academies testing primary pupils on summer visiting days

University of Cambridge professor of education Diane Reay says transition day testing is an example of ‘the relentless counting culture’ in schools.
Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

When primary school teacher Ed Finch discovered that his son Douglas, in year 6, would be tested on his literacy and numeracy during a “transition day” at his new secondary school this term, he was outraged. “I thought it was a pretty shoddy and bizarrely unhelpful thing to do,” he says. Transition days are children’s first experience of their new big school – the idea is to gently help them to get used to a new, often daunting, environment, and meet children in their form group.

“A transition day should be about reassuring children that they will feel safe at secondary school in September and that the school will value them,” says Finch.

Douglas enjoyed the first of his two transition days at Oxford Spires academy, which included investigations in the science lab and a fun dodgeball contest, but on the second day he was faced with a multiple choice reading comprehension quiz, a “write as much as you can in 10 minutes” essay and a spelling test. “He was doing something he had never done before, in a hall he had never been in before. He was told he could only look forward or down. My son likes tests but even he felt nervous.”

Some schools are not doing a good job of making children feel happy and excited about secondary school

Finch says the practice also raises questions about what Sats (the statutory assessments at the end of primary school) are for.

Oxford Spires is not the only secondary school that has been testing primary school pupils during their transition days this summer in what University of Cambridge professor of education Diane Reay describes as a “shocking but not surprising” trend, as schools try to assess the abilities of their new intake amid concerns that Sats are unreliable. Other parents and teachers across the country, from South Yorkshire to Bournemouth, also reported transition day testing at academies in their area.

Alexandra Stevens, a year 6 teacher at a Bournemouth primary school, reports some of her pupils are feeling anxious about the outcome of tests they say they took on a transition day this term. “We spend a lot of time preparing our pupils so that they don’t perceive Sats as worrying or threatening, and can do their best. I don’t think these transition day tests will yield reliable data – and why are children having to do Sats at all, if the secondary schools aren’t using the results as a guide?”

Bristol primary school teacher James Walker is considering advising parents not to send their children on transition days to local academies Oasis Brislington and John Williams in future. He says several of his year 6 pupils – including a child with autism – were distressed by the tests they were forced to sit. “We’ve got a lot of vulnerable children in our school. Transition is a really tricky time for them and it’s important they form good relationships with the new adults in their lives. Some schools are not doing a good job of welcoming our children and making them feel happy and excited about secondary school.”

Moving to big school: 'If you find it hard at first, don't panic'

Read more

Instead, pupils may start associating their new school with stress and failure. “Children are not going to do their best when unfamiliar adults give them an unfamiliar test in unfamiliar surroundings – and then some could be put straight into the bottom set, based on weak and inaccurate data. A child’s Sats results are a much better measure of what they can achieve. I hope these schools aren’t trying to make sure the kids get low scores in these tests so they can later show that they have made progress.”

Reay says transition day testing is an example of “the relentless counting culture” in schools. “Schooling should provide a positive climate that enables all children to flourish. If the first day at a secondary school involves plunging children into what feels for many like a threatening testing situation, then pastoral duty is being neglected.”

A Department for Education spokesperson says: “We trust schools to induct new pupils and determine what support they may need as they see fit. We also expect them to do this in a thoughtful way that does not put undue pressure on children.”

Oxford Spires academy’s principal, Marianne Blake, says the tests this summer were a trial and that she would welcome feedback from parents about the arrangements. She says: “We felt this was a potentially valuable way of ensuring tailored support was in place for students when they start in September, rather than part-way through the autumn term. We will fully review the impact of this trial on our students’ progress, and only then will we decide whether to run tests on future transition days.”

Five useful ways teachers can help pupils transition to secondary school

Read more

The multi-academy trust Oasis Community Learning says that, during transition days at its Oasis Brislington and John Williams academies, students enjoy fun activities with their new classmates and teachers, and are shown around the school. They also take a multiple-choice reading-age test on the computer. “The data provided is used alongside Sats and the visits our teachers make to primary schools, to provide an accurate and holistic picture of a child’s prior and current attainment. By completing the reading-age test prior to the summer, our students are reassured that their teachers know how best to support and challenge them from the first day, results are not skewed by academic regression over the long break, and, most importantly, it reduces the need to move students around groups in late September once they have already begun to settle and make new friendships. The vast majority of our parents praise the arrangements.”

A spokesman for the NAHT headteachers’ union pointed out that Sats took place only two months ago: “There really is no reason to test this year’s group of primary school leavers again. Transition days should be about acclimatisation and preparing year 6 children to be successful as they move on to secondary school.”